allocation strategy paper ukraine humanitarian fund 2020 … · 2020-06-16 · stakeholders in...

Under the direction of the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC), the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF) aims to support the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs of people in Ukraine.

https://www.unocha.org/ukraine/about-uhf.

Allocation Strategy Paper Ukraine Humanitarian Fund 2020 Supporting Access in NGCA – Reserve Allocation

Project Proposals will be accepted until US$ 1 million envelope is depleted

A) Allocation Overview

This document outlines the strategic objectives and funding priorities for the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund’s (UHF) allocation to support increase humanitarian access in non-Government controlled areas (NGCA) of eastern Ukraine. This strategy paper is issued by the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) and the UHF Advisory Board.

This reserve allocation makes available US$ 1 million to address priority humanitarian needs, support humanitarian access and strengthen response capacity in areas outside of Government control. The allocation aims to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people while serving as a catalyst to improve NGO access, capacity, and to enhance the operational footprint in NGCA. In line with Strategic Objective 4 of the 2020 Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan, the allocation will strengthen the ability of the collective response to reach populations in need in NGCA.

This allocation will follow the procedures for a reserve allocation, and applications will be accepted and invited on a rolling basis. Applications will be considered as they are received, and the UHF will inform partners if the $1 million envelope is depleted. Partners that are interested in submitting a project should consult with the UHF on the rationale and operational framework for the project, and clusters on the programmatic aspects of the project before preparing a submission. Following this initial consultation, projects should be developed in coordination with clusters and project proposals will be submitted through the Grant Management System (GMS).1

B) Humanitarian Situation and Rationale

• Humanitarian Situation

The 2020 HRP found that of 1.9 million of the estimated 3.4 million people that require humanitarian assistance or protection services reside in NGCA. Living conditions in the entire NGCA are particularly challenging due to socioeconomic deterioration, lack of aid, pre-conflict poverty and unaddressed impacts of heavy fighting in the area in 2014 and 2015, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with the larger number of people requiring assistance, the humanitarian needs of people in need tend to be greater in NGCA.

1 Following this consultation, OCHA will open the GMS and then invite the partner to prepare the proposal.

https://www.unocha.org/ukraine/about-uhf


Ukaine Humanitarian Fund - 2020 Access Allocation in NGCA – Reserve Allocation Paper | 2



The protection needs are greater in NGCA because of the large number of people who depend on social entitlements – and the difficulty they face in accessing them. Those in NGCA are also more affected by protection issues in some areas due to multiple compounding factors such as socioeconomic exclusion, lack of aid, pre-conflict poverty, lack of documentation recognized by the Government of Ukraine, and unaddressed impacts of the heavy fighting in the area in 2014 and 2015. In education, the proportion of households with school-aged children not enrolled in school is twice as high in NGCA than in GCA (21 per cent vs 10 per cent respectively)2. The majority of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) incidents occur in rural areas in NGCA, where access to emergency health care and rehabilitation services is limited.

The WASH needs are also higher in NGCA, where there are serious issues with the disruption of water, sanitation and hygiene services, which affects households with vulnerable members (elderly, people with disabilities or special needs). The WASH cluster reported that 51 per cent of assessed households have access to only one source of water, which leaves them particularly vulnerable to shocks or disruptions (such as conflict related damage) to their water supply, and that 71 per cent of households reporting problems with the quality of drinking water.3 The disruption in water supply also affects the level of sanitation and hygiene.

The healthcare systems in NGCA have significantly been weakened due to the cumulative impact of years of armed conflict. The 2020 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment in NGCA, found that apart of the former oblast capitals of Donetsk and Luhansk, less than 50% of surveyed key informants rated the quality of their health facilities as good or very good. The main reported issues were lack of medical staff, unaffordability of medicine and lack of equipment in the facilities. The drivers of these challenges are lack of maintenance of aging health facilities and medical equipment, shortages of medicines and medical supplies (as a result of broken supply chains between GCA and NGCA), lack of cleaning materials and inadequate water supply, sanitation and waste management and the departure of skilled nurses and doctors. These issues have undermined the region’s healthcare systems’ capacity to cope with existing healthcare needs, let alone the public health threat posed by COVID-19.

Despite the greater number of people in need, and the higher needs in NGCA, the number of people reached in NGCA in 2019 was significantly lower than in GCA. Only 150,000 people in NGCA were reached with humanitarian assistance in 2019 compared to 850,000 in GCA, a proportion similar to previous years.

Access to people in need remains one of the key challenges for humanitarian actors in eastern Ukraine. In NGCA since July 2015, humanitarian access has been severely restricted and remains highly unpredictable. Over the past two years, humanitarian organizations have maintained delivery of

2 This is the percentage of children aged 2-17 that attend school or preschool. However, it is noted that schooling is not obligatory until 6 years of age in GCA and 7 years in NGCA. The data is based on the survey conducted for the REACH Multisectoral Need Assessment in NGCA https://www.impact-repository.org/document/reach/14fbe661/REACH_UKR_Report_MSNA-in-NGCA_February-2020.pdf3 WASH cluster, Study of humanitarian needs in Eastern Ukraine, August 2019.






humanitarian programmes, but responding to the critical needs of the population remains far below the required scale.

The main challenges hindering humanitarian actors delivering assistance to the NGCAs are related to: i) insecurity, ii) bureaucratic impediments and iii) legal impediments (restrictions by GoU on items beingdelivered to NGCA institutions run by those in control in NGCA). Humanitarian actors are attempting toincrease their operational footprint in NGCA and to address needs equitably on both sides of the ‘contactline’. Efforts are being undertaken to enhance the operational capacity of national and international NGOsas well as UN.

C) Allocation Parameters and Rationale

The importance and priority of increasing access has been consistently highlighted by humanitarian stakeholders in Ukraine, and the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) has for the first time defined a strategic objective dedicated to humanitarian access. Strategic Objective 4 (SO4) of the HRP seeks to expand and secure humanitarian access to 2 million people in need in all areas where needs are acute. This seeks to give prominence to the persistent access challenges that remain a hinderance to reaching all people in need, particularly those in areas outside of Government control, and emphasize that there is a need to step up the humanitarian response. The allocation will support SO4 of the 2020 HRP and aligns with the HCT Access Strategy’s goal to obtain free, timely, safe and unimpeded access by humanitarian organizations to populations in need.

In these respects, the allocation seeks to contribute to a more efficient and coordinated humanitarian response in eastern Ukraine, by supporting partners’ efforts to establish, maintain and expand humanitarian access in the NGCA. This is key to meeting humanitarian needs, and also to help address possible misperceptions of neutrality linked to an imbalance of assistance on different sides of the contact line.

D) Background and Complementarity

To support access for new partners, and as part of developing and supporting this allocation, the UHF has had consultations with interested partners and relevant actors in NGCA. During this process, the UHF reached out to partners to express interest in working in NGCA, and provided this list to those in control in NGCA and advocated that permission be granted to partners. However, as the recent focus in NGCA has been on the response to COVID-19, there has been no feedback on potential partners, and it is not clear if a response will be forthcoming and when it may come. At the same time, bilateral efforts of partners to gain access have continued, and there may be some opportunities for partners to gain access with UHF support.

Although the UHF has recently completed an allocation supporting the COVID-19 response the humanitarian consequences of COVID-19 continue, and so projects supported under this allocation may address COVID-19 or other humanitarian needs.





E) Eligibility and operational framework

The allocation will support organizations that have not previously received UHF funding to operate in NGCA and that will implement projects as directly as possible. The UHF will also support partnerships in which the organization that is implementing the majority of activities has not received UHF funding for humanitarian action in NGCA.

i) Supporting access for new NGO partners in the NGCA

Rationale: Over the past two years, humanitarian organizations have maintained delivery of humanitarian programmes, but the ability to respond to the critical needs of the population remains limited due to the small operational footprint of NGOs, linked to bureaucratic impediments. In NGCA Donetska oblast, international NGOs implement mostly through local NGOs, stretching local NGO capacity and limiting overall implementation levels given that the same local NGOs are being called on to implement for UN agencies and NGOs. In NGCA Luhanska oblast, three INGOs are operational, but this is not enough to cover all needs. More implementing partners are required in both locations to deliver at scale and also to bring more humanitarian funding. The allocation will support direct implementation by partners who are seeking to establish operations in NGCA but are not yet working there.

Eligibility for this envelope: NGO partners that are not currently active in NGCA and are planning to implement as directly as possible.4 All sectoral activities will be eligible, and proposals should be developed in consultation with clusters, and coordination fora in the NGCA. Recent assessments of humanitarian need in NGCA found that people living in communities further from the contact line are facing similar levels of vulnerability, as those close to the contact line. As such, no geographic limitation will be imposed, though partners should focus on the most vulnerable.

ii) Support to solidify presence and ability of NNGOs to meet humanitarian needs

Rationale: The operations of some NGOs in NGCA are facing challenges with accreditation and registration and now a lack of funding and this is placing constraints on the delivery of aid. During the last year some NNGOs have had their permission to implement projects withdrawn and been forced to suspend operations and this is threatening the viability of the organizations and impacting the ability of the overall humanitarian system to deliver.

Considering that UN agencies and INGOs must implement through national partners in Donetska oblast NGCA, this has meant that most projects are implemented by the same NGOs, putting pressures on their capacity and constraining the delivery of humanitarian services. These NNGOs in Donetska oblast have played a key role as implementing partners of UN agencies and INGOs, managing their distributions and implementing activities under different modalities.

4 The allocation does not seek to support working through sub-implementing partners that have already received UHF funding, but there can be some flexibility in terms of local registration of projects. The majority of activities should be implanted by a partner who has not yet received UHF funding for activities in NGCA.





The situation in Luhansk NGCA is even more controlled for NNGOs. One NNGO has worked as a sub-implementing partners of a UN agency as a contracted technical service provider and some NNGOs who were operational before the conflict have continued with low profile social service delivery, but this has not focused on humanitarian activities, or expanded to meet increased needs.

While many local NGOs have proven adept as implementing partners, they have had limited opportunities to implement more independently -- assess needs, designing proposals and managing the full cycle of humanitarian projects. The UHF and international partners are well-placed to provide tailored oversight and support to these partners in order to build their capacity to implement. This allocation will provide funding for NNGOs to implement activities and or projects independently and establish themselves as more robust organizations and in doing so contribute to strengthening humanitarian response capacity in the NGCA.

The UHF also encourages partnerships between organizations to optimize each partner’s strengths in terms of access and technical capacity and so projects can be submitted directly by NNGOs or in partnership with another organization (UN or NGO). For projects submitted in partnership, the new NNGO should be implementing the majority of the project activities and the other organization should include a plan to strengthen the capacity of the NNGO during the implementation of the project.

Eligibility for this envelope: Projects submitted directly or in partnership with NNGOs that have not received UHF funding in NGCA. All sectoral activities will be eligible, and proposals should be developed in consultation with clusters, and coordination fora in the NGCA. Recent assessments of humanitarian need in NGCA found that people living in communities further from the contact line are facing similar levels of vulnerability, as those close to the contact line. As such, no geographic limitation will be imposed, though partners are encouraged to focus on the most vulnerable.

F) Linkages with the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2020

The allocation addresses directly three of the strategic objectives of the HRP, SO1, SO2 and SO4. In line with SO1, the allocation will support partners to provide emergency and time-critical assistance to conflict-affected people with humanitarian needs and ensure their access to basic essential services. It is also in line with SO2 on responding to the protection needs and strengthen protection of 1.4 million conflict affected people, including IDPs, with regard to international norms and standards. As noted earlier the allocation also addresses SO4 to address access constraints by supporting new partners to establish themselves and others to solidify their presence.

G) Prioritization / Selection of Project Proposal

The submission of projects will be accepted on a rolling basis, and the likelihood that the partner will have access to implement the project will be considered during the initial consultation and vetting before partners are invited to develop full proposals. However, it is important to note that submitted projects may not be approved by the Review Committee, and/or may not receive necessary clearance from de-facto entities.





Step 1: Consultation with UHF and clusters on potential project

Partners interested in developing a project must reach out to the UHF and provide a detailed operational famework (which may include permission and/or registration) for the project and submit this to the UHF at [email protected]. The UHF will then set up a meeting or call with the interested partner, and may ask for additional information or documentation.

Step 2: Development of Project Proposal

Following the discussion on the operational framework for the project, the partner may be invited to develop a full proposal online via the UHF Grant Management System (GMS) at https://cbpf.unocha.org in GMS within two weeks. Partners may only submit one proposal per organization, and projects should contain realistic budgets that are in line with previous experience in project delivery in the NGCA or planned capacity in NGCA. Projects may cover one sector or be multi-sector and partners should have proven experience in sector(s) of application. There is no preference for multi-sector projects.

Organizations submitting projects must consult with relevant cluster coordinators during proposal preparation. The projects should be developed in line with the following criteria.

Strategic relevance: alignment of the proposal to the allocation strategy, and in line with the HRP, target population, including vulnerable groups and geographical areas identified above, as noted below:

• Life-saving activities should be prioritized: top priority should be given to activities that aim to address immediate and most critical gaps in the immediate response that, if not addressed, could lead or increase threats to life or mental and psychological well-being of the most vulnerable groups of people.

• Time-critical activities should be prioritized: top priority should be given to help address immediate needs and prevent a deterioration of existing conditions, taking into consideration seasonality factors.

• Projects that target particularly vulnerable groups must be prioritized: top priority should be given to the most vulnerable groups of the population pre-defined by the respective clusters. Priority should be given to those with compounding/overlapping vulnerabilities.

Access: demonstrated operational capacity and physical access to the affected population of the application organization, and the location of the project is clearly identified.

Feasibility: proposal meets technical requirements to implement the planned activities and demonstrates the ability of the organization to implement the project successfully;

Evidence-based approach: the identification of needs including disaggregation of data by age, gender and diversity; and beneficiaries are clearly described. The articulation of the logical framework, the protection analysis, and the cash-based programming approach, if any.

Appropriateness: the activities are adequate to respond to the allocation parameters


mailto:[email protected]


https://cbpf.unocha.org/

https://cbpf.unocha.org/




Cost-effectiveness: the budget is fair, proportionate in relation to the context. [This question looks at the proportion of budget related to direct, staff and other personal cost and start-up costs]. Proposals must demonstrating better cost effectiveness, where: a) the cost per beneficiary ratio is reasonable; b) the level of support costs is reasonable and in line with accepted levels for a given type of activity; c) the proposed period of implementation is adequate and represents best use of resources at that time.

Risk management: assumptions and risks are comprehensively and clearly spelled out, along with risk management strategies

Monitoring: a realistic monitoring and reporting strategy is developed in the proposal, relating to clearly specified indicators.

Engagement with coordination. Applicant organization engages in coordination mechanisms, including exchanges with clusters during the preparation of the project proposal.

The proposal needs to be supported by clear logical frameworks with outcomes, outputs, SMART5 indicators and detailed activities. Please refer to Annex 8 of the Global Guidelines for a sample Project Proposal Template.6 All partners must complete the Gender with Age Marker assessment tool prior to the submission of the project and must submit the reference number for the project during the submission of the project.7

Budget Preparation and Guidance

All project proposals must have a detailed budget outlining all the project related expenditures under relevant budget lines. Refer to CBPF guidelines, Annex 13 Project Budget Template for further details.

Budget proposals must reflect the correct and fair budget breakdown of the planned costs and clearly outline units, quantities and percentages. When budget lines contain costs of multiple items greater than US$10,000, a budget breakdown should be included in the GMS Bill of Quantities (BOQ) tool, listing item, unit, quantity, cost (per unit and total cost). A budget narrative (as an essential component of the budget) that clearly explains the object and the rationale of any budget line is required. For example, shared costs, large/expensive assets, and costs/equipment required to support the regular operation of the implementing partner, are clear cases where the provision of details will be necessary in the budget narrative.

For further guidance on budgeting (eligible and ineligible costs, direct or indirect costs) please also refer to the Revised Operational Handbook for CBPFs pages 39-44.

5 SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound 6 https://www.unocha.org/our-work/humanitarian-financing/country-based-pooled-funds-cbpf/cbpf-guidelines 7 https://iascgenderwithagemarker.com/en/home/ and also see Annex 2. This is a self-assessment tool that focused on supporting partners in ensuring gender and age responsive programming.


https://iascgenderwithagemarker.com/en/home/

https://iascgenderwithagemarker.com/en/home/




H) Strategic and Technical Review

All the submitted project proposals will be strategically, technically and financially assessed by the UHF Review Committee using a general score card, cluster-specific criteria and the UHF guidelines.

The UHF Review Committee (RC) is composed of Cluster Coordinators and one additional member from each cluster (nominated by the active members of the Cluster) so that there is an equitable representation of UN agencies and NGOs in the Committee. There will be one committee who will do both the strategic review and the technical review.

Based upon the results of the Strategic Review the Review Committee may recommend that the HC endorses the project, and if the HC endorses the project, it will undergo a technical review.

During the technical review the UHF Review Committee members will provide comments and recommendations and discuss this feedback with partners. The partner will then address all comments and the project will be submitted to OCHA NY for final clearance.

I) Approval of Projects in NGCA and Grant Agreement Signature

As soon as the project cleared by OCHA NY, the partner will be informed with an official letter from OCHA confirming the approval and details of the UHF project. If the partner has not yet received approval from relevant actors in NGCA, this must be obtained prior to signing the grant agreement. The UHF will then liaise with the implementing partner to determine the start date of the project. The agreed-upon start date, which is the first date for eligibility of expenditures will be included in the grant agreement.

Any technical questions with regards to projects, budgets and/or partnership arrangements can be directed at OCHA: [email protected]. The reserve allocation will be implemented as per the UHF Operational Manual and the revised Operational Handbook for CBPFs that can be found together with additional information on CBPFs at: http://www.unocha.org/Ukraine/about-uhf.

Allocation Plan

Consultations prior to project submission Who Partners submit details on operational plan for the project Implementing Partners (IP) Consultations are held with OCHA, partner and clusters OCHA, IP, and clusters Preparation of Project Proposal Who Partner is invited to develop and submit proposal in consultations with cluster coordinators and submit through GMS within 2 weeks.

Implementing Partner

Strategic and Technical Review Who Review Committee (RC) Members Conduct Strategic Review Review Committee, UHF HC considers recommendation of the Review Committee HC Review Committee and UHF Conduct Technical Review Review Committee, UHF




http://www.unocha.org/Ukraine/about-uhf

http://www.unocha.org/Ukraine/about-uhf




Proposal Revision and Adjustments: IP reviews comments and discusses feedback and then revises proposal and budget as requested.

IP in consultation with RC and OCHA

Review Committee and UHF review revised project to ensure that all comments are addressed.

UHF, Review Committee

Final review and clearance of project. OCHA HQ Upon final clearance, UHF informs partner with official letter from OCHA confirming the approval and details of the UHF project

UHF

Approval of Projects in NGCA and Grant Agreement Signature Who Partner submits confirmation that approval from relevant actors in NGCA has been obtained within 6 weeks.

IP

UHF confirms start date and signs grant agreement with partner. IP, HC and OCHA HQ

J) UHF Information and Complaints Mechanism

All correspondence regarding the UHF should be sent to [email protected]. Complaints from stakeholders regarding the UHF allocation process should be sent to [email protected]. The OCHA Head of Office will receive, address and refer any critical issues to the HC for decision-making.

List of Annexes

1. Acronyms Used 2. Operational Modalities 3. IASC Gender with Age Marker Information Sheet 4. Budget Guidance UHF 5. COVID-19 Ukraine Assistance Delivery Protocols for COVID-19






(months)(thousand

USD) thousand USD)

(in % oftotal)

allocation strategy paper ukraine humanitarian fund 2020 … · 2020-06-16 · stakeholders in...

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